What a lovely way to start the week! Take a nice long look at the cover for my upcoming release, Passing Through. You might remember the original Passing Through, a novella that was part of the military-themed box set from Blushing Books that came out last year. Well, this is an expanded version. It’s 50% longer, with more of the she’s-on-top, workplace inappropriate goodness featured in the original.

Want to hear more? Here’s the official word:

The summer’s brought two surprises to bar owner Gigi Dean: the former Army Ranger she hired is the perfect barback, and he pleases her in bed as much as he does at work. Gigi swore long ago never to let a man come between her and her business, so allowing herself to succumb to her intense attraction to her employee for more than one night is a definite no-no. But for how long can she resist the desire to seduce this powerful alpha male?

Right at the start, Noah Monroe told his boss that he is just passing through on the way to a more permanent job. He hasn’t told her that his hunger for her keeps him awake at night. He won’t have more than this summer with the gorgeous woman who is his perfect match. Can he coax her into his arms for a summer fling? Or will acting on instinct cost him everything he’s begun to love?

You can get your very own copy of Passing Through this Friday, July 28. If you want some awesome exclusive extras to go with your smoking hot read, now is the time to join the mailing list. Folks on the mailing list saw this cover days ago! Click that candle on the right to sign up and enjoy a free short story while you wait.

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I remember writing about Playboy’s decision to remove the nude pictorial from their print issues. At that time, the pictorials had already been removed from the online issues. I wasn’t sure how I felt about it at the time, in large part because I read Playboy for the articles. I’m just not that interested in the nude female form. If I want to see female nudity, I’ll take my own shirt off.

I thought I’d heard that nudity had returned to Playboy, and on Saturday, my colleague Elizabeth Shore confirmed my suspicions. This was just a couple of weeks after I named Playboy one of the three things that was getting me through a bit of a creative slump. So now I’m presented with another opportunity to examine my feelings about the presence of the nude pictorial in Playboy…

My colleagues and I have been celebrating the re-release of Illicit Impulse, my hot story with one sexy scientist, lots of experimentation, a spirited friend with benefits, and a pill designed to improve women’s sex lives. Sound complicated? Well, here’s the story in a nutshell:

Scientist John March has a problem. He needs the perfect subject to test out his new project, a sex pill called Impulse. His best friend, Grace Foley, might be the right woman for the job. She’s more than willing to see just how far these pills will take her … and her friend with benefits. But can John maintain his objectivity when he wants Grace for himself?

Grace wastes no time testing the big red pills and her own boundaries with her buddy, Tal Crusoe. Grace’s real fantasy is…

**Quick note: I wrote this post a few days before the announcement that Ellora’s Cave would be closing. I’m not going to write another post about this. I know a lot of people have a great deal tied up in business with EC, and I respect that. I don’t have very much that’s still attached to them, so I’ve made the personal decision to release them, keep the happy memories, and treasure the contacts. Y’all’s mileage may vary.**

Today is release day! I’m delighted to announce that Loose Id is re-releasing Illicit Impulse, the story of a man, a woman, and an experimental sex drug. In a way, Illicit Impulse is a story about second chances. John and Grace are close friends who almost went to the next level, and who are now working around their feelings for each other and their own awkwardness. Their experiments will force them close together, to share secrets in a way that would test any friendship, and they’ll have to find the courage to move forward, either together or apart.

Illicit Impulse is a second chance for me, too. The story was originally published by Ellora’s Cave. I’ve been pleased to have the chance to participate in a deep revision of the book, and I’m really happy with the end result. I hope readers find plenty to love with John and Grace and my favorite complication — a friend with benefits named Tal Crusoe.

I couldn’t decide whether or not I wanted to tell my Ellora’s Cave story. A lot of people I admire and respect have gone public with their stories. A lot of people I admire and respect have not.

I wasn’t sure I had anything to say about my time as an Ellora’s Cave author until I went to San Diego for the RWA National Conference. By the time the conference was over, I decided to share some thoughts with you.

First, though, a word of wisdom from my mom.

Mom is a big fan of the idea that something good lies inside every unpleasant experience. One need never decide whether something is a blessing; it’s a blessing merely because it’s happening to you. The challenge is determining exactly what the benefit of that experience is.

The challenge is to find the gold buried within the dark times.

I’m not going to go into the details of the business relationship between me and Ellora’s Cave. As I’ve said, a lot of people I admire and respect have written about that sort of thing, and I personally do not wish to give bandwidth to it here on my blog.

Instead I want to turn back to San Diego.

I saw Christine d’Abo at a signing at Nationals. I hadn’t seen her since the steampunk presentation she gave with Delphine Dryden at Romanticon (the Ellora’s Cave conference), quite a few years ago. To my surprise, she recognized me. At the time, we weren’t connected in any other way; we were strangers on social media. But we spent a couple of minutes chatting before I snapped up one of her books, and I spent the afternoon smiling.

How cool that Christine d’Abo remembered me after such a long time, right? But she’s a cool person like that.

I also ran into Lexi Post at a signing. We had a very similar experience. Lexi and I first met at Romanticon, too, and while we are connected on social media, we hadn’t seen each other since then. But we also spent a few moments in friendly conversation before I left with the same little smile on my face. How cool to have bumped into Lexi Post after such a long time!

It’s taken me a while, but I see the real value of my time as an Ellora’s Cave author.

The real treasure is in the people I’ve met, starting with Grace Bradley, the brave soul who became my first editor.

I miss Dalton Diaz, whose amazing advice and guidance have been priceless to me as I find my place in the market. I remember Regina Carlyle telling me that erotic romance writers stuck together, like a family. I remember Shoshonna Gabriel (who was Shoshonna Evers then) giving me a hug in the parking garage.

The tiara I won from Sabrina York. Drinks with Sasha Devlin. The way Joey W. Hill smiled at me and Mom whenever we saw her in the hallway.

“There’s Joey Hill,” Mom would say.

“I see her,” I’d say. “Hi, Joey!”

We seriously did that every time we saw her. It’s a wonder she didn’t start to avoid us.

I remember that Mom was able to tell Shayla Kersten that she was the only author with a dedicated folder in her giant ebook library. I remember having breakfast at a table near Dee Brice on the morning after conference, when the waitress said things would be much quieter now that those people had gone.

“I am one of those people,” she said. That was golden. As golden as it is to read it now, it was even more golden to witness it.

I could go on and on like this. Regardless of how things have worked out with me and the company, regardless of what happens next, I’m endlessly grateful to have met so many wonderful people. And the truth is, I wouldn’t have met all these people without Romanticon. As I move away from the company, I’m so glad that those relationships have survived and endured.

Who knows what the future holds for me and my career? If nothing else, I’ve learned that anything can happen.

Anything. But I’ve also learned that success is really where I find it, and I can find it anywhere.

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Ovid actually wrote about game many, many years ago. He’d have mentioned headphones if he could have.

By Alexa Day

Long ago, I would have been able to tell you the number to the pay phone in the center of the local mall, in the town where I grew up. This was back when there was such a thing as a group of pay phones in the center of the mall. In fact, I think the mall itself is gone now. But at one point, I had that number memorized.

Why?

At that point in time, long ago, I had a lot of people rolling up to me to ask for my phone number. It’s hard for me to say that; it sounds kind of immodest. I don’t think I was getting any more attention than any other woman moving unattended through the world. I do have a fairly high…

Zig Ziglar had this to say about the fine art of having it all: “You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want.”

He probably wasn’t talking about being a wingwoman, but his message about service definitely applies.

What’s a wingwoman? Glad you asked.

The wingwoman accompanies a friend, either male or female, to a target-rich environment, to facilitate the friend’s meeting other people for fun, romance, and perhaps sexytimes.

A wingwoman’s job isn’t easy, although the best practitioners make it look that way. The real virtuosos are hard to find. In my time, I have known exactly three, two of whom have moved far enough away that I can no longer call on them when I need support.

If you like kinky stories with military heroes, click to preorder. Like right now.

By Alexa Day

Happy weekend, sexy people! Learned colleague Madeline Iva has allowed me to stage a Sexy Saturday takeover so I can hit you with a lick of excerpty goodness from my novella, “Passing Through.” It’s one of 22 stories featured in the box set, Hero to Obey, from Blushing Books. Joining me in the collection are Sierra Cartwright, Selena Kitt, Desiree Holt, along with Lady Smut guests Tabitha Black and Lee Savino. If you like your stories kinky and your heroes in uniform, you want to get involved with this big box.

My contribution, “Passing Through,” is a femdom-themed story featuring bar owner Gigi Deane and Noah Monroe, the former Army Ranger who’s spending the summer working as her barback. Gigi likes her men tall, hot, and obedient, and Noah certainly…

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Don’t let that cover fool you — the heroine is definitely in charge here. Click and get yours.

By Alexa Day

Don’t call it a comeback. Femdom has been here for years.

And why not? Female dominance has a great deal to offer erotic romance. Next week, on the release day for my own femdom-themed story, “Passing Through,” I will devote a great deal of time to exploring what’s hot about the woman on top. For now, consider the obvious benefits. Femdom books focus on the woman in charge. She might be at the top of the food chain at work. She might be the leader of her single-parent household. Maybe she’s redefining herself, and by extension, the world surrounding her. Whatever her situation, the femdom heroine has a lot in common with the increasingly kink-curious reader, the modern woman who finds herself in control of more things now than…

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Want to hear some great news? I’m contributing to Hero to Obey, a box set of 22 stories featuring military heroes and loads of kink. It’s a collaborative effort unlike any I’ve ever worked on, and I’m proud to be a part of it!

The box set releases on June 28, but you can preorder your copy right now for just 99 pennies. You can find all the links over on the shop page.

Need convincing? I get it. Times are hard. Who knows what you might do with 99 cents?

But here are five reasons you should go ahead and drop that money on this box set.

1. Hot military men. What is it about military men? Is it their code of honor? Is it the air of command? Maybe it’s their well honed physiques. That’s my guess, anyway. Whatever the appeal is, the military man is very well represented in these 22 stories. You are sure to find someone to make you very tingly indeed.

2. A veritable smorgasbord of kink. Left cold by the same old kinky stories? Fear not. Hero to Obey covers a huge spectrum of naughtiness. From my femdom story (more below) to some hot historicals to some splendidly dark capture erotica, the set covers a wide range of wicked temptations. You will definitely find something you enjoy. (Especially if you happen to enjoy spanking.) You might also discover something new to tickle your fancy.

3. Femdom. The women are usually in charge in my stories, but not in quite this way! In “Passing Through,” the heroine, Gigi, owns a beachside bar and is crushing hard on her barback, a former Army Ranger. She wants him on his knees and at her service. And who wouldn’t? Whose heart doesn’t race just a little at the thought of having a man at the height of physical and mental fitness under her exclusive control? Who wouldn’t want a man like that at her command? That’s certainly a thought to sleep on, right?

5. The outstanding company. My fellow contributors include some real luminaries in the world of erotic romance. Sierra Cartwright is among us, as is Desiree Holt. Paige Tyler and Alta Hensley are both here. There’s something for kink-loving fans, and there’s plenty of opportunity to find a new author to love.
Now’s your chance. Click on over to get your preorder on. Then get ready for a very hot summer!

Header Cred

Lex Valentine designed my sexy new header, which exemplifies my brand promise to get you smart, sexy reads. Want a smoking hot design of your own? Check her out at Winterheart Designs (www.winterheart.com).